BEIJING, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- China said Thursday that 28 government ministries would make a concerted effort to halt human trafficking in China and neighboring countries.

    The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) said in a notice on its website that the government would release anti-trafficking measures in the first five-year (2008-2012) national plan for curbing trade in humans, particularly women and children.

    The ministry said, without elaborating, that the plan would include preventive measures, crackdown policies, victims' aid, repatriation and rehabilitation, and international and regional cooperation.

    As part of its anti-trafficking effort, the ministry is hosting a vice ministerial-level Mekong regional meeting Friday. The meeting involves Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam, countries where human trafficking has become more commonplace in recent years.

    Zhang Xinfeng, the vice minister of Public Security, said that the commitment made by the six governments to implement an anti-trafficking road map was only the first step. "Strenuous efforts have to be made to save more lives in the region," Zhang said.

    The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund estimates that roughly 1 million children are bought and sold every year, mostly for sexual exploitation and forced labor.

    The MPS said that it had uncovered 2,500 human trafficking-related criminal cases in 2006 and saved victims from suffering.

    Zhang said the Chinese police would devote more attention to the problem. The rise of cross-border trafficking in the Greater Mekong sub-region would require joint law enforcement operations among the countries concerned, Zhang said.

    Police authorities from the six countries signed an agreement in October 2004 covering joint anti-trafficking activity.